FF5: Red Handed
by shannyfish
Summary: Felicity notices that furniture and equipment in the Foundry is being moved around, but no one will admit to doing it. For SmoaknArrow's Olicity Flash Fiction Prompt #5: Red Handed


"My desk moved."

"I didn't see it move," Diggle responded and looked confusingly towards her desk.

"Not just now," Felicity said with great annoyance and frustration.

For the last week, they'd come into the Foundry only to find slight changes. Apparently she'd been the only one who ever noticed and the guys always looked at her like she was crazy when she brought it up. Diggle told her that she'd probably moved it herself just a smidge while Oliver had just told her that she was still adjusting to being in the new Foundry. Felicity really wasn't sure what to think...all she was /fairly/ sure of was that she wasn't going crazy.

Someone was moving things.

Felicity glared at her desk and then slowly sat down in her chair. She really didn't like that everything was being moved around on her. It threw off things for her, even if it was just in the slightest way. She'd purposely angled her desk so that she could partake in the glory of watching her guys working out. There was a reason for why everything was exactly where it was.

"What got moved today?" Oliver asked from behind her. He sounded amused.

"Felicity's desk," Diggle responded.

"Ow! Someone's really asking for it then!" Oliver said, at least he sounded half serious.

Felicity turned around in her chair to watch him walk towards her, her arms crossed over her chest. She honestly didn't know what to think because she didn't think Oliver or Diggle would keep this up. It was one thing if it had happened once or twice, but she was fairly sure that they would have fessed up to it since they knew how much it bugged her.

"Maybe we're being haunted," Felicity teased.

"All of us? Or just you?" Diggle asked in amusement.

She shook her head and turned back to face her computer screen. "Don't you two have bad guys to chase after?"

Oliver spoke up and sounded thoughtful. "I was thinking that maybe we could stop by that cupcake shop you like-"

"They're already closed," Felicity and Diggle replied at the same time.

"Oh," Oliver said softly.

"It's fine… It was sweet for you to think of it."

"Though sweeter if we were eating a cupcake," Diggle said.

. . .

It was past four in the morning, but Felicity found herself coming back to the Foundry. She'd left her tablet there and she knew that that really wasn't a valid reason to go all the way back to the Foundry and retrieve it, but she /needed/ it. She'd slept for...well, a very small amount of time and then had wanted her tablet...and somehow it hadn't made it into her bag…

That never happened.

Oliver was there, though, she'd spotted his car as she'd made her way to the entrance.

Felicity was quiet as she approached. She watched as Oliver slowly moved the salmon ladder. It wasn't much. It wasn't even a full inch, but he'd moved it just the same. Her mouth dropped open at the realization that Oliver had obviously been behind all of the furniture and equipment being moved over the past week and denying it.

"You!" she exclaimed.

Oliver turned his head quickly and just stared at her. He seemed confused. She wasn't super surprised to see him, but he seemed surprised to see her. "It's late."

"It's early actually," Felicity told him as she took a step towards him. "You just moved the salmon ladder," she pointed out.

"No...I didn't," Oliver said and looked oddly between her and the salmon ladder.

"You did! I watched you do it!"

Oliver looked back at the ladder and then towards the floor. He was quiet for a long moment. "I didn't realize I did it...but it wasn't far-"

"You've been moving other things, too."

"If I did...I didn't realize it," Oliver told her and she believed him. He looked back at her. "I didn't mean to make you feel like you were going crazy… I just-"

"You can't be in here all the time, Oliver," she said gently. "It's not good for you." Felicity frowned and then motioned to the salmon ladder. "And now you've probably moved the salmon ladder out of its perfect position, so I could...uh...spot you from my desk." Oliver really didn't need to be spotted, but he was so lovely to watch on that thing.

Oliver smiled a small smile. "I'll move it back."

"I know you don't have Queen Mansion to return home to anymore…" Felicity said quietly. "But that doesn't mean that you don't have a home. Diggle and I have both offered you a place to stay...though my place might be a little less awkward given Lyla and Diggle's current relationship."

"It's thoughtful, but you don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"I think I know you pretty well."

"I don't really sleep at night," Oliver admitted. "Not since the island…" He was quiet and she just watched him. It wasn't often that Oliver talked to her or Diggle. So when he did, they really just needed to stop and listen to him. That moment would never come again, not when it came to Oliver. "And I don't have a home anymore...or a family...which is probably for the best… It's better that Thea's left… It keeps her safe…"

"Not all of us like being safe, not if it means losing you," Felicity spoke up.

"Slade killed my mother… I won't let him or someone like him kill Thea too… It's hard enough that you and Diggle are in danger...and Roy…"

"We chose it, Oliver," Felicity reminded. "Maybe you should have just told Thea…"

"She already sees everything as lies and she can't see past that-"

"She might," Felicity told him as she took another step towards him. "If she knew that you were the Arrow. If she understood how you were protecting not only her, your family, but Starling City as well…"

"She deserves a normal life."

"So do you."

Oliver smiled just a bit. "I don't think that's in the cards for me."

"It could be," she insisted and closed the distance between them. She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek. "And you're wrong…"

"About what?"

"About having a family…"

"Felicity-"

"Diggle and I are your family. Sara and Roy. We're all family," she insisted. "We're dysfunctional at times, but that doesn't mean that we're any less of a family… If anything, the fact that we all came together… Every single one of us with ARGUS' Suicide Squad and the League of Assassins should prove how strong of a family we all are…"

Oliver just nodded. "I know…"

"You try to distance yourself, but you shouldn't," Felicity told him as she stared at him. "Slade told you that he was going to take away the person that you loved most," she reminded. They still hadn't really talked about that much since they'd left Slade in ARGUS' spiffy prison on Lian Yu. He hadn't denied loving her. She loved him and she was fairly sure that he /knew/ that. She really didn't know how he couldn't. "The fact is, that love can be a weakness, but it can also be a strength… It all depends on how you use it."

They were both quiet for a long moment.

"And you have a home," Felicity told him and she reached down and took his hand in hers. She brought it up and pressed his hand against her chest, over her heart, her hand laying on top of it. "You'll always have a home here…"

. . .

The End.


End file.
